Kishi

Um... I don't know what you have access to down there for breakfast food, or what time constraints you have to work with. But as far as avoiding carbs for breakfast goes, you can do some stuff like eggs and sausage in the morning. It's a lot of protein, lots of good fat, and maybe ten carbs depending on what kind of sausage you use. Another thing that you can try is cottage cheese with almonds mixed in. It's fast, simple, and filling, and it's got a good flavor to it too. Typically, I'll do that in the morning alongside some Greek yogurt if I can. Full fat and everything. Typically ends up being 40 g of protein, 30 g fat, and 20 g carbs. Nice and simple. I mean, I dunno what you have to work with, but maybe this will get the ball rolling for you. Good luck!

That app sounds great. Fantastic for push ups. How does it work?

YES to completing the gym workout in shorter time. The benefit of this in terms of physicality and simple convenience cannot be overstated.

One challenge after another falling down at your approach. You got this, dude. Well done!

Dude, way to go on the carbs! I know I've been messing up there some because, due to troubles, I've been letting friends feed me, and they don't understand that carbs should only come from fruit and veggies. It's a hard situation, but what are you going to do, right? But hey, if you're still up for it, I'll face down the carbs with you.

Please do not let my silence fool you into thinking that I am ungrateful. I made my comments as I did out of a certain sense regarding my family. They've done a lot to help me with a lot of different things financially, and I keep telling myself that I should have gotten beyond this by now. You'd think, four years post-college, that I would be in a position to... I dunno. Give something back to them. I keep forgetting exactly how hard things are right now. I also know what you mean on the cutting things aspect of things. It's something I've started doing here already, with all kinds of things going under the axe. And hey, who said I'm running from this challenge? I'm not running away... I just might have to ditch some of the personal challenges to deal with this. Don't worry. I'm still gonna be here. # Well, guys. I got knocked on my ass for a little while. I had a two-day pity party, and I'd forgotten what those were like. I went to a church service today, though. I know, it's Saturday. And I know, I'll be volunteering at another service tomorrow, but this was what I had in the meantime. But this was a good service. It reminded me that poverty, not having enough, and the stress that comes with those things are real and difficult - and temporary. The best praises and the deepest wisdom are both found in times of suffering. I'm going to have to change some of these goals a little bit, but just as a heads up, they're going to be worth the same stats mostly. In the meantime, let's talk about today's training. Crow Stand: 20s (Failed - could not find the balance on this one.) Close Squats: 2x20 One Armed Half Push Ups: 2x8 Planks, Prone and Side: 2x50s, 25s Pull Ups: 2x7 (Failure on the last one. Going to have to scale this back a little bit and use another protocol to make this advance. Pushing to failure is no way to make this work.) All right, brothers and sisters. I'm back. Let's get moving again.

Yeah, SCA! That's awesome that you're going to be authorized! We could completely understand if your goals change to reflect this.

I can vouch for the freezer thing. Do it eight hours or so over night and it seems to kill the bacteria pretty easy.

Big project sounds big and exciting! Also, always good to see more grapplers coming out.

I am getting all into the 6 AM working out thing! It's the best time for this kind of thing. No, for real!

I would say something to each of you, but it would be the same thing every time: thank y'all for this. - So, just when I was getting bored with this challenge, it threw another curveball at me. I could make a big ordeal of it, but the fact of the matter is that I'm completely out of money. I have taxes I still owe to the state, a wedding to get to, rent to pay, and a car that's broken down again, and this is on top of everyday things like food. Sadly, I find myself in a place where I can only do three of the four things that need to be taken care of, and that's assuming that I cut extra expenses like martial arts and the like. I won't lie. I feel like I'm in a very low place right now, and if things would just slow down and stop for a while, maybe I could get a handle on it. But that's not how it works. I'm sure something's going to work out here, but for the next month or so things are going to be difficult. Did I mention that I have to be ready to move out of my house at the end of the month? And that I need my car to be fixed by then? I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it if it doesn't work anymore. Amazingly enough, though, the thing that bugs me the most about the whole thing is that I negged out and made my mom cry when I talked to her about this stuff last night. Man. I'm just an awful person. I can think of no other explanation for all of this. I think I'm going to have to change my life goal, but it's time for me to go to work so I can't stay and talk about it just yet. Here's what I did last night. Crow Stand: 15" Close Squats: 2x20 One Arm Half Push Up: 2x7 Planks with Sides: 45", 23" Pull Ups: 2x7 (failure on second set).

Rah, this is what I get for avoiding the forums yesterday. I miss all the fun challenges. So! Is there a scout out there ready to go for a run?

I just want to say, it's been forever and a day since I saw the Korean forms. I bet you'd do them well.

Dude, I've been hearing about huaraches. Are they really all that?

Actually, I really like them. I don't know why. If it was horse stance, I would hate every second of it, but something about the planks makes it more bearable somehow. I don't have a good explanation for it. By the way, are you sure that you want to be doing your side planks for the same amount of time?

ooh, have to favorite that. I'm sure I can find a way to make that work. -- Right, so. Thought I could make today work. But, um. It didn't. Not only did I mess up on strength training, but I didn't make judo because of some problems that came up that I had to solve. Not fun. Crow Stand: 10s One Step Pistol: 2x2 Bah. Bad days happen. It's not a problem until it happens enough to replace the status quo. I'll make this better.

You know, that might not be a bad idea. Working on your fitness throughout the challenge and then doing something really taxing at the end of it would be a great finish.

Well, if you're tired, it's a function of either not eating right or not sleeping enough, or both at the same time. Either one of those is worth taking a look at, because the goal is to have energy enough for all of it, right?

Applying for jobs is absolutely frightening, particularly if you don't know anyone or have any networked connections leading in. Have you tried talking to friends about it, and seeing if they could help out?

Mm. Needs more judo for takedown. But way to get position; that's something I struggle with.

Wow. Points for drive, huh?

2 Steps From Hell!!! I first heard them through the ads for Mass Effect 3, and I keep listening and listening to their songs. They're great pump up songs.

Um, well, there's not much to it, really. It's like a pistol squat, only you use a step beneath it to reduce the range of motion. There are some little tricks you can use to make it easier, though: -Tighten your muscles. Fists, core, even your feet. Keeping these muscles tense throughout the movement seems to galvanize things, and somehow I'm just stronger when I execute the technique that way. -Really drive that foot down. Imagine it like you're stomping your foot. That change in focus gives it a little extra drive. -Make sure you're leaning forward. If you think you're leaning forward, lean more forward. Push the range of motion there. It'll help. And remember. It's a tricky thing. Not only are you working strength, but you're working balance in there too. Much as we hate shoes in this community, something with a flat sole actually helps the balance. And if you can't do it without having to reset some or whatever, then that's fine. Until it keeps you from standing back up, it's not bad technique. At least, that's how I've looked at it. # Right, so, did my sprints today. Hill Sprints: 8x11s. I think I may have disturbed a couple that were just pulling in... they sat in the driveway and just watched me do my last sprint when they were pulling in after passing me on the way down. Dunno what to make of that. End of Week 1. Let's go ahead and tally it up. Goal 1: Strength Train 3x Per Week 3/3 so far. I am showing up and playing the game. Sprints done too, just because... so maybe that's 4/4? Major progress here in terms of digging in and finding the way to make it take less time. Yoga! 2/2 so far. Looking at my schedule for the next couple months or so, this is actually going to play really significantly into my training. I used to use Tuesday nights for karate, but those nights are being taken up by discipleship training at my church. Yoga is close by, though, so, I make it work. It's been really interesting. Martial Arts! Well, this week has not been the strongest for this goal. I had my car break down on one day, and then it got fixed, but I didn't make it out to the next one. I used it for strength training instead. So, in other words, I did everything except the thing that's supposed to define us as monks. 0/1. I should turn in my kesa and rosary. Life Goal: Blog! Ah, God have mercy, but I decided to go ahead and register a domain today. With my super cheap service. I am committed to this course of action now. Let us see where it goes. But so far: 1/1. And here, at the end of the week, I have to admit that I feel pretty tired. In a good way. I think it's one of those things where I upped my activity without necessarily making sure that I got more rest. Shame on me. I know better than that. So I'm definitely going to be taking some time to get used to doing things a little different - shutting off screens and curling up with a good book at the end of the day. Getting to bed earlier. It's something that's getting easier - when you work harder, you tire out more. Who knew, right? Anyway, let's throw some weekly goals up there. Monday - Strength Training and Judo Tuesday - Long Slow Distance Work and Yoga Wednesday - Strength Training Thursday - Long Slow Distance Work and Yoga Friday - Strength Training and Shotokan Saturday - Judo and Long Slow Distance Work Sunday - Sprints! And... it looks like a tall order. It probably is. But when I first started out here, I used to do this stuff all the time. As long as I eat enough and eat good enough, it really won't be overtraining at all. Somewhere in here I'm going to have to do some writing too. Right, then.

I just want to say that tracking what you eat is definitely a great way to see where it's all going, you know? Or where it's all coming from. I've kind of been in the same boat myself. Most days I can keep my carb intake below a hundred grams. But it's just barely. And I've been eating dairy products with stuff added in, like honey and such. It's meant that I stopped eating my vegetables. That's stupid, but the numbers say it works, so it's all good, right? Har. I tell you what. Let's you and me double-team this carb-cutting thing. Let's own it and make something great happen. What do you say?

I definitely see where you're coming from with that. All right, I'll see what I can do to throw it into my practice.